We had Girija Aunty, mom to 34 year old Aishwarya, give us a talk on her learnings, her inspirations and the achievements of Aishwarya.
The talk was had many keys to the puzzle of Autism and here are some of them-
- Do not seek 'independence' in your child, but 'less dependence'. Lets be realistic with our expectations.
- Our children might seem aloof but actually love the company of others.
- They appear indifferent but are really very sensitive souls.
- They seek love, thats all.
- They are observant, perceptive and intuitive than us.
- Parents must shift their attitude from seeing this as a burden to one of enjoyment.' Sumai illa idhu, sugam yennakku'.
- Encourage what the child enjoys to do and does well. In Aishwarya's case, it was puzzle making, which her parents bought umpteen numbers of, framed after she finished them and sold them too!
- The above image is of the extremely difficult 'Krypt' puzzle where 654 pieces, each one unique, without an image, monochrome, has to assembled.
There were many such snippets of wisdom told with anecdotes and jokes. Girija Aunty and Shriram Uncle have published Aishwarya's diary-a compilation of her notes and drawings. The talk explained some stories behind the content of this book.
The patience, love, acceptance and hard work of this couple all exemplify the Serenity prayer by Reinhold Neibuhr-
'God give me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
Courage to change the things I can,
And wisdom to know the difference.'
We deeply thank this inspiring couple for this entertaining and soul- nourishing treat.
Sumai illai enakku sugamithu, I love this! Perhaps I could say 'not burden for me to bear but balm for my being". Love you Girija, you rock.
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